Research into opening sequence of a Drama film

           Little Women opening scene 

Released in 2019 by Columbia Pictures, "Little Women" was directed and written by Greta Gerwig, based off the 1868 novel by Louisa May Alcott. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson and Florence Pugh among others. The film was produced by Columbia Pictures. 

The opening presents a narrative in which a young girl enters an office that appears to be for a newspaper and requests that a man sitting at the desk might read through a story that she claims a friend has written. From the scene, I believe that the film is attempting to target audiences of all ages, genders and circumstances. One might suggest that since it is following the dream of a young woman that the film has a mainly female target audience. However, I believe that this film would be suitable for everyone as the concept of following one's dream applies to everyone. 

The opening is firmly established as a drama due to it being a plot line that is driven by a character, in this case, a character who clearly wants to have her writing recognised. Moreover, the plot line presents a situation that is easy relate to as it shows a character trying to achieve their goal which is something we all experience is daily life. Additionally, although this is not a convention of all dramas, the opening sequence establishes a time period. The tone of the film seems quite light-hearted and hopeful. 

The opening scene introduces two characters to the audience: a young woman and an older man. Through the use of facial expressions and dialogue, we immediately get the sense that this young woman has big dreams that she is determined to achieve. For example, the young woman makes anxious looks as the man reads through the piece that she wishes to have published. However, through her swift acceptance of the man's offer to pay for her the story, despite being only a small amount suggests to us that she is eager to please the man. The man's relaxed body language and sound-effects of him laughing throughout, makes him seem rather obnoxious but also comfortable in his position.

As the man reads through her work, her facial expressions make it appear that she is anxious to receive a good response. Additionally, she smiles slightly whilst she details different awards that the mystery writer has been awarded. This lets the audience know that it is likely that the young woman is in fact the writer. The man agrees to read through the story and eventually agrees that he will publish it, on the condition that she cuts it down to make it shorter. The man claims that it needs to be shorter because "people want to be entertained, not preached at" and that this this is because "there has just been a war". The characters' dialogue is spoken in American accents and this paired with the mention of the war, places the film most likely in the late 19th century after the Civil War. The young woman's look of slight disappointment at the response to the story hints to the audience that it is her who has written the story, not the friend that she claims did. Even the character clutching onto her bag that once contained the story, suggests to us that the story is something very close to her heart and important to her. However, despite her slight disappointment, she agrees to let her story be published and this suggests to the audience that this is a very determined character. 

The opening scene ends with her running through the street excitedly and her joy is emphasised by the jubilant diegetic soundtrack. From this, we expect that the rest of the film might follow this young woman in pursuing her dream of becoming a writer. 

I believe this to be a successful opening as it leaves the audience wanting to know more about the young woman such as where she has come from, what her background is and to know more about her writing ambitions. It may also leave the audience to know what the young woman's story is about. Therefore, the opening scene gives the audience a reason to continue watching without telling us everything about her character. Moreover, the opening sequence has been crafted to reveal to us that this woman wants to be a writer without ever explicitly stating it, and instead makes use of the character's facial expressions and the setting to show us this.